“Why would he steal your tablet?” I asked.
Victoria looked embarrassed.
“Because Adrian knew what was on it.”
“Which was?”
“Messages.”
“About the acquisition?”
“About the customer lists?”
My anger sharpened.
“You knew those directives came from him.”
“I knew he suggested them.”
“You let him test discriminatory policies in my stores.”
Her eyes filled.
“I didn’t think of it that way.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“I thought he was showing me how brands protect exclusivity.”
“By deciding which people look rich enough to enter?”
She had no answer.
Richard spoke quietly.
“Victoria, give me your phone.”
“Now.”
She handed it over.
He scrolled.
His face became harder with every second.
“What?” I asked.
He turned the phone toward me.
A message thread.
Adrian.
One message stood out.
Once the transaction closes, your father won’t control the board. We’ll fix that next.
He had seen it too.
“Did you know what he meant?” I asked Victoria.
“He told me you were weak.”
Richard’s eyes closed briefly.
“He told me you were going to sell pieces of the company and retire.”
Richard looked at his daughter.
“I was planning to give you a board seat.”
Victoria’s face broke.
“I was waiting until after the acquisition.”
She stared at him.
“You never told me.”
“I wanted you to earn it.”
She laughed bitterly.
“So you tested me?”
“I spent my whole life trying to prove I belonged there.”
Richard’s anger softened slightly.
But only slightly.
“And you proved it by conspiring with a man I fired?”
“I didn’t know why you fired him.”
“You could have asked.”
“You never tell me anything.”
That hit him.
I could see it.
But this was not the time for a family therapy session.
I stepped between them.
“Whatever problems exist between you two, Adrian used them.”
Victoria looked at me.
“He made me believe my father was replacing me.”
“Because fear makes people easier to manipulate.”
She wiped her face.
“I thought if I helped him improve Bellamy before closing, Dad would see I was useful.”
Richard’s voice was low.
“You were useful.”
“To Adrian.”
That hurt.
I saw it land.
My phone rang again.
“We traced one data pull.”
“Bellamy internal credential.”
“Martin Ellis.”
Everybody in the room heard the silence that followed.
I turned slowly.
Martin’s face emptied.
I put the call on speaker.
My attorney continued.
“His credentials were used remotely at 2:14 a.m. twelve days ago.”
Martin shook his head.
“I was home.”
“Did you share your password?”
“Did anyone ask for it?”
He thought.
Then froze.
I saw the answer arrive.
“The analyst.”
“Ethan?”
“He said corporate was installing an inventory dashboard.”
“Did you log in for him?”
“Did he watch?”
My attorney spoke.
“That may be enough.”
Richard said, “Ethan’s access should be revoked immediately.”
“Already done,” my attorney replied.
“You didn’t authorize that.”
He stared at me.
“You did?”
“My people called your compliance team after I canceled the deal.”
For the first time all day, he almost smiled.
“Good.”
A sales associate came rushing from the front.
“There are reporters outside.”
Victoria muttered something under her breath.
I walked toward the window.
Six cameras already faced the store.
That was too fast.
Much too fast.
“Who tipped them?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
A reporter held up her phone.
A headline was already circulating.
BELLAMY OWNER CANCELS WHITMORE DEAL AFTER DISPUTE WITH HEIRESS.
Another.
BILLIONAIRE CEO ACCUSED OF RETALIATION AGAINST CUSTOMER.
I stared at the screen.
The story had been flipped.
Instead of Victoria humiliating me, I was now an unstable owner who killed a major deal because a customer argued with me.
Adrian was moving.
Fast.
Richard saw the headlines.
“That’s him.”
“You’re sure?”
“He used media leaks when he worked for us.”
Victoria whispered, “He told me you hated journalists because they could expose you.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“I hated him because he bribed one.”
She went still.
“He what?”
“Seven years ago, he paid a reporter to bury a story about a fund he wanted us to invest in.”
Victoria sat down.
Everything she believed about Adrian was collapsing.
I looked toward the front doors.
“We need facts before we respond.”
Richard nodded.
“Board chair.”
“Take it.”
I listened only to his side.